The book is a case of unexplained phenomena, including chemical evidence, that is an ultimate challenge to scientifically-minded skeptics. Forrest J Ackerman (1916-2008) was a world famous futurist, author and a pioneering promoter of science fiction books and films. As an atheist, Mr. Ackerman did not believe in life after death. However, he promised friends that if he were wrong, he would try to drop them a line. The is the unabridged true story of precisely what happened. For over six years, data has accumulated that Mr. Ackerman continues to communicate, with over 100 incidents that include physical chemical evidence studied at two universities. This has left top science professors in fields from chemistry to psychology completely baffled, and in some cases, plagued by unexplainable incidents themselves. The book includes Paul Davids' sworn personal testimony and incredible story of bizarre contacts from the mentor whose deep friendship he valued for half a century It also includes in-depth chemical analysis (a 3 year study) of an extraordinarily mysterious ink and ink message that continues to mystify scientists, and also studies from state of the art sensors used with computer software, apparently successfully, to attempt getting responses from spirits, including the late Mr. Ackerman. This is a companion work to Mr. Davids' feature documentary from NBCUniversal called "THE LIFE AFTER DEATH PROJECT," but a previous viewing of the film is not essential, and the book certainly stands alone.

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Editorial Reviews

Review

To use an oft-overused word, this book is AWESOME . The work done by Dr. Schwartz is far-reaching in its implications. I think the world is just now realizing it. -- Deborah Painter , author of Forry: The Life of Forrest J. Ackerman.

About the Author

PAUL DAVIDS is an author, artist and director, who has produced films that include Marilyn Monroe Declassified (2016), NBCUniversal s Jesus in India (2007) and The Sci-Fi Boys (2006), and Showtime s Roswell (1994).

He co-authored six books of the Star Wars saga with his wife, Hollace Davids, for Lucasfilm.

He is a Princeton Psychology graduate. His uncanny experiences of phenomena related to Mr. Ackerman are the subject of the film, The Life After Death Project (2013).

An Atheist in Heaven is about this extraordinary case of afterlife communication, and Mr. Davids has signed a sworn affidavit certifying that it is all true.

DR. GARY E. SCHWARTZ has a Ph.D. from Harvard University, was a tenured Professor at Yale University, and he has long been Professor of Psychology, Medicine, Neurology, Psychiatry and Surgery at the University of Arizona.

As the Director of the university's Laboratory for Advances in Consciousness and Health, he has conducted afterlife research for over 15 years. He has published hundreds of scientific papers, and authored books that include The Sacred Promise, The Truth About Medium, The G.O.D. Experiments and The Afterlife Experiments. He is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association as well as the Academy of Behavioral Medicine Research.

Top customer reviews

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This isn't scientific proof, but if you can be satisfied with a "preponderance of the evidence" than you will have to admit there are too many coincidences to be "coincidental." Even if half of these events are 'only' ordinary coincidences, the other 50% deserve careful consideration. When a forensic expert on ink cannot explain what happened, it greatly increases the chances of a non-ordinary explanation. I worked with Gary Schwartz for seven years and know that his integrity is unimpeachable. His involvement suggests that he found something extraordinary was occurring.

"A belief in coincidence is the most prevalent superstition of the Age of Science." - R.A. Wilson

Forrest J. Ackerman was an iconic figure among science-fiction movie fans for many years, and countless people grew up reading his almost legendary magazine, Famous Monsters of Filmland. But Forry was an atheist, and when he died some years back, I am sure there were a lot of Christians who felt sad because they believed, because of his atheism, the man who touched their lives so much as kids had gone to Hell. At first glance, this book seems to be an attempt to alleviate that and bring some comfort to the fans who loved Forry Ackerman. At first glance.....

To begin with, the title is misleading. This book is not about Heaven, not in the sense that the Christian religion teaches of it. This book is about "the spirit world"....you know, the one that psychics and mediums are always talking about. Author Paul Davids is a science-fiction writer who has penned some of the Star Wars novels in the past. Apparently during his final illnesses, Forrest J. Ackerman told Davids that if he were wrong and there was some kind of afterlife, he would try to come back and let him know.

Davids writes that, after Forry's death, he started noticing little things happening, such as household items being moved around his pad when there was no one home to do this, and he interpreted this phenomenon as signs from Forry that there was indeed a life beyond ours. Well, okay....I might buy that. Many people have had experiences like this, and have wondered if they were messages from deceased loved ones. But unfortunately, Davids does not let it go at this.

Davids goes on to describe a séance he arranged to take place at Forrest J. Ackerman's old house, the Ackermansion. The medium tries to contact Forry's spirit, and not only does his spirit show up, he brings with him the spirits of H.P. Lovecraft, Ray Harryhausen, and.....Nikola Tesla????? This story is so over-the-top that it calls into question the veracity of anything at all in the book! I would say that Paul Davids, a science-fiction writer by trade, let his creativity get the better of him.

Then, Davids goes on to write about Marilyn Monroe, and claims she was murdered by the U.S. Government because the Kennedy boys talked too much in bed. Now that's a conspiracy theory we've all heard before, but Davids pads it by saying one of the secrets they told Marilyn was that the Roswell UFO crash was real! Davids then goes on to describe another séance where Marilyn's spirit appeared and related that he got everything about right. So....what does this have to do with Forrest J. Ackerman? Nothing....Davids has just added this to this very thick book as promotion for one of his other projects about Marilyn Monroe!

Oh, but Davids reproduces notarized documents he has signed swearing that the events in this book are true. Oh, well, if they are notarized, how can we doubt it?? Bottom line: If you are a follower of spirit mediums and that sort of thing, you might buy into the book's premise. But if you are a Christian looking for hope that a man whose work you loved went to Heaven despite his atheism, this book will not bring you the comfort you seek. This is not that kind of book. I am giving it two stars instead of one because it does contain a few interesting stories about Forry when he was alive. Otherwise, let the buyer beware! Know what you are purchasing before you pay the high price.

This book was interesting to me but got a little tedious after awhile, especially in the less-than-impressive "synchronicities." The problem with this work is that it goes to great lengths to convince the reader that souls continue to exist after death. OK. I have zero doubts on that score. In fact, I believe the evidence for life after death is overwhelming--way beyond a reasonable doubt.

But this book purports to place the departed and atheistic soul of Forrest J. Ackerman in "heaven." However, nothing here describes anything like heaven. Ackerman and his wife and deceased buddies may be hanging around earth, particularly in the places where they lived, but that is not the sublime, joyous, light-filled expanse of God's personal domain. Souls there have transitioned from a worldly existence where odd pranks on the living might have any appeal. Can an atheist go to the real heaven? Maybe. Maybe not. But this book does nothing to answer that question.

This is a fascinating tale of an atheist who made his living from creating "spooky" movies, but had absolutely no belief in any of it. His messages to his friends after his passing are unmistakable and this has to constitute the biggest body of corroborated evidence of after death communications ever recorded. Paul Davids might actually include too much evidence. By the end, I was saying "OK. I got it."

This is an excellent book if you're on the fence about afterlife communication writing off the events as wishful thinking or coincidences. There are too many communications to too many people many of whom were die-hard skeptics. Forry really wanted to get his point across.

If you would like the Cliff's Notes version, there is a film based on the same evidence. It's called The Life After Death Project and it's available on Amazon Prime